December 2025 IB Connection

December 18th: Winter Wonderland 5 - 7pm

December 22nd - Jan 2nd: Winter Break - NO SCHOOL

January 5th: Professional Development Day - NO SCHOOL

IB Learner Profile Focus: Thinker

At Locke school, we nurture students to be Thinkers — individuals who use critical and creative thinking skills to analyze problems and make reasoned, ethical decisions. Thinkers are curious, reflective, and able to approach challenges thoughtfully and with confidence. Developing this attribute helps students become independent, responsible learners who can adapt and solve problems both inside and outside the classroom.

How Parents Can Help Develop the "Thinker" Attribute at Home:

• 🧩 Encourage problem-solving: When your child faces a challenge, resist the urge to solve it right away. Ask guiding questions like, “What do you think you could try?” or “What are some other ways to approach this?”

• 💭 Model thinking aloud: Share your own thought process when making decisions — for example, “I’m thinking about which route to take to avoid traffic. Let’s weigh the options.”

• 📚 Play strategy games together: Board games, puzzles, and logic challenges (like chess or Sudoku) help children think critically and plan ahead.

• 💡 Ask open-ended questions: Promote deeper thinking with prompts such as “Why do you think that?”, “What might happen if…?”, or “How could we find out more?”

• 🌍 Make connections to real life: Discuss current events, community issues, or everyday decisions and invite your child’s ideas on how to address them.

• ✏️ Reflect together: After completing a task or project, ask “What worked well?” and “What could we do differently next time?” to encourage thoughtful evaluation.

• ❤️ Value mistakes: Emphasize that mistakes are opportunities to learn — part of thinking critically and creatively.

By encouraging thoughtful questioning, reasoning, and reflection at home, parents play a powerful role in helping children grow as Thinkers — confident, independent, and compassionate problem-solvers.

Congrats to our 8th Grade student Betsy Calderon! She won our student design t-shirt contest. Her shirts (a limited quantity!) will be available for purchase ($10) at our Winter Wonderland community event on 12/18. Thank you to Ms. Herzog for organizing the contest, thanks to all students who participated, and thanks to our SAC (Student Advisory Committee) for voting on the winning design!

Our athletes demonstrate their ability to be risk- takers, communicators, and balanced!

The students in Room 151 combined science, literacy, math, and social emotional skills to carve pumpkins that were donated by ReMax Surburban in Schaumburg. Before carving the pumpkins, students selected patterns to carve on each of their pumpkins. Once they selected the pattern, they had to trace the design using a pencil to puncture the initial holes in the pumpkin before using the pumpkin "saws" to cut out the design. We discussed sharing our tools along with the shapes that they saw. We predicted what they would find inside the pumpkin along with the quantity of seeds. As students were carving, the described what they saw and felt. They sorted the pumpkin "guts" and the seeds so that Mrs. Biggs could cook up the pumpkin "guts" and roast the seeds for them to try in class when all pumpkins were finished. Student did great supporting each other when it was difficult to cut and did well sharing the tools with each other. Tools, designs, and table clothes were donated by a Room 151 parent. Thanks to all that participated in this multi-curricular activity with our students.

6th grade math students worked on finding unit rates/prices during Quarter 2. In order to make this hands on and practical, students used items that they might see in stores or their homes.

All Locke School Preschool students were visited by the Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Department. As part of our IB Who We Are Unit, we discuss our community. CPD and CFD were able to bring police cars, a fire truck and fire engine and allowed students to explore and answer questions. Students engaged with the police and firefighters and asked questions. Students were allowed to climb into the different vehicles and explore them while interacting with the people who help keep our community safe and protected.

Seventh graders went on an field experience to the Lincoln Park Zoo. There, they engaged in making careful observations of the zoo's wildlife guided by a field guide. Afterwards, students go to see the menagerie of animals, all while taking in some spectacular views of our city's skyline, fresh air and exercise.

Students in 2nd through 8th grade proudly participated in our Spanish Oratory Competition, showcasing their growing language skills and confidence. Each student delivered a piece in Spanish, demonstrating strong pronunciation, expression, and poise. We are incredibly proud of their hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm for learning a new language. ¡Felicidades a todos nuestros participantes!

Our preschool students engage in a year-long exploration into life-cycles as they observe, plant, harvest and care for their pollinator garden and pumpkin plants. They engage in this work all year long to help them connect the concepts of seasons and plant and animal life cycles. In the photos, students are saving seeds from this year's sunflowers to be planted in the spring and observing their pumpkin growing.

Students and families explored and shared the similarities and differences between their cultures. They sang, danced, watch pictures and videos of their friends, and listened to each other talk about their heritage.

As part of a cultural activity conducted with Ms. Pantoja’s class, the kindergarten students participated in a virtual field trip to the Philippines. Through this experience, they were able to immerse themselves in Filipino culture by reading books that highlighted Filipino values, traditional cuisine, and notable contributions to the world. The students also learned several Filipino words such as sarap (delicious), lola (grandmother), and salamat (thank you), among others. The activity concluded with the students playing with the traditional toy yo-yo, which was credited and popularized by a Filipino named Pedro Flores.
Meanwhile, halfway across the world at my home school, Proverbs Ville Academy Foundation, the special education students also participated in a virtual field trip—this time to the United States of America. They engaged with educational videos and literature that showcased American culture and traditions.

In Unit 2 of Skyline ELA, our second graders explored: How and why do living things respond to challenges in their environment? Through this inquiry, students became young scientists and thinkers—discovering how plants and animals adapt, survive, and thrive in both natural and human-influenced environments.

Students engaged in hands-on learning by planting seeds, making daily predictions, and recording their observations as real scientists do! They investigated the fascinating ways that plants and their seeds move, grow, and adapt to challenges in their environment—discovering how life constantly finds ways to endure and flourish.

Each student also selected their own plant or flower to research and proudly presented their findings to the class—demonstrating their growing confidence as communicators and inquirers.

This unit beautifully integrated ELA and Science, allowing students to read, write, speak, and think like scientists. As an IB school, we foster curiosity, reflection, and a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of living things. Our second graders truly brought this unit to life—embracing challenges, nurturing growth, and showing that learning is an adventure that continues to bloom!

First grade young authors in Room 230 researched and created informational articles about plant and animal defenses.

Our 8th graders enjoyed an exciting and educational field trip to the Shedd Aquarium, where they explored a wide variety of marine habitats and learned about the incredible diversity of aquatic life. Students engaged with interactive exhibits, observed fascinating creatures up close, and deepened their understanding of environmental conservation. It was a memorable day of discovery and learning!

In 5th Grade Language and Literature class, students worked in pairs to research significant Hispanic individuals from our Bravo! poetry book. They focused on the traits that defined the individuals' identities and their positive contributions to the world. They then created a Google Slides presentation and presented their research to classmates.

Family 116 spent some time at the end of Quarter 1 reflecting on our ELA and Science units by discussing and writing about each of the guided questions from the first half of the units. The class talked and write about how different forms of energy help us in our daily lives, impact the world around us, and how cities can make an effort to reduce pollution by using committing to cleaner forms of energy.

Third grade celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by researching Hispanic leaders.

Our seventh grade is currently engaged in the plate motion engineering unit where they are trying to place sensors to warn the people from Sri Lanka of any potential tsunami threat. In this lab, students worked cooperatively to model wind vs. tsunami waves. Little red" houses" were placed on "land" as students compared and contrasted the effects of these ocean waves.

The 5th graders learned about how Trade grew and shaped lives in the Western Hemisphere and beyond. They applied the historical content to how things are in today's world. Students created posters that show the difference between export and import.

Our 4th grade teaching team is building stronger inquiry-driven classrooms by exploring student agency in their latest PLC. Together, they are collaborating, sharing strategies, and deepening their understanding of how to empower students to take ownership of their learning. This work supports a classroom environment where curiosity, voice, and active engagement guide the learning process.

Ms. Casey Mcleod (left) - IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) Coordinator (PK-5) - cjmcleod@cps.edu

Ms. Anna Ziemniak (right) - IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) Coordinator (6-8) - aziemniak@cps.edu

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